1. Technical Field
The present disclosure pertains to an interface for data-entry, and more particularly, to a key input system and device ergonomically designed to minimize movements of the human hand for data input to a computing or electronic handheld device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Personal computers arrived in the world promising to save us time and energy by performing repetitive, tedious tasks. This promise has clearly been kept when it comes to working with photos, managing personal finances, and sending multiple mailings. However, at the present time, personal computers and their weary users remain chained to the 19th century QWERTY keyboard, an interface that was never designed with computers in mind, or even for touch typing. As a result, we still slowly and awkwardly type one letter at a time, and spend a great deal of time mired in the traffic of typos. On some portable devices, we are forced to type with our thumbs alone just to keep the archaic QWERTY key system alive. To make matters worse, we are also stuck with other inefficient key systems—in particular, the keypad used on phones. To send text messages on a phone, we sometimes must press a single key up to five times to type one letter.
We have long needed a new system of keys that can do for words and writing what the pocket calculator did for numbers and calculating—make writing and editing a snap. Ideally, people would be able to write on these keys at the speed of speech while making few errors. Editing and styling of text could be an integral part of the design, and so it could be accomplished in an instant. The keys would be operated in the same way on any application—large or pocket-sized, cell phone or computer keyboard. And the keys would be easy—perhaps even fun—to learn and operate. In short, the key system would be so perfectly suited to its tasks that it could replace the QWERTY keyboard, as well as the key systems used on phones, calculators, and Personal Digital Assistants. Users could learn just one highly efficient means of data entry rather than a number of inefficient ones.
As someone types any word on any keyboard over time, his movements become quicker and more refined—he does more work with less effort. Eventually, he does not think of individual letters when typing a familiar word because typing the word has becomes a single coordinated gesture—a rippling shape in his hands. However, the user of a QWERTY keyboard finds it difficult or impossible to attain this level of competency with most words since the typing of many words creates awkward and labored movements for the hands.
According to principles of the present invention, users are able to type the letters of standard words faster and faster until the letters are typed simultaneously or, in some cases, nearly simultaneously. Whereas conventional typing is geared toward typing individual letters (like a pianist playing single-note melodies), the finger input keys are designed to allow the user to type all the letters of a word at once (like a pianist playing chords). The finger input keys are designed around the idea that different words make distinct shapes in the hands (like chords on a piano) and that we ought to be able to type the individual letters of each word in whatever order or speed that is most comfortable for the hands. When typing at fast speeds, the user should not have to carefully coordinate the intricate alternation of his two hands—he should be able to let both hands fall onto the keys simultaneously to create entire words, and let the processor do the work of sequencing the letters (“Speed Type”).
In QWERTY-based typing, users spend more time commuting between keys than actually pressing them. The standard keyboard with its number pad has 104 keys and the user is constantly jumping between them, often striking them incorrectly or out of sequence, and he is frequently forced to look down at his hands to type peripheral keys. As a result, QWERTY users spend a great deal of time making and fixing mistakes. The situation is even worse when phone keys or handheld digital devices are used for text messaging.
According to principles of the present invention, there is only one physical row of finger input keys, yet nearly every letter has its own subkey. This is what allows for increased typing speeds. There is no travel time between rows because there are no rows to travel between.
To illustrate the difference between QWERTY keyboards and the finger input keys with regard to commuting time: On the QWERTY keyboard, typing the (the most common word in English) requires the left index finger to move to the upper row, then the right index finger to move to the right, then the left middle finger to move to the upper row, then the thumb must press the space bar, and then the fingers to return to the home row position. With the finger input keys, the user presses the T, H, and E subkeys simultaneously with his dominant hand's middle finger, and releases his finger to create the space. Therefore, there is one highly concentrated, efficient, accurate movement instead of multiple, scattered, inefficient, error-prone movements. The finger input keys allow the user to type faster simply because he doesn't have to travel anywhere to do this—complete words are literally right at his fingertips.
Beginning users are thus able to simultaneously type all the letters of many common words (the, them, there, on, in, as, and quite a few others) more quickly than even expert typists can type them on QWERTY keys. Many beginning users will be able to touch type on the first day since the layout of letters is both sensible and memorable, unlike the layout on the QWERTY keys. Experienced users will be able to accurately type as many as four words a second, or 240 words a minute, over four times the average speed of experienced QWERTY users. In the preferred embodiment, software corrects automatically most common spellings errors for the user, while most remaining errors can be located and highlighted or deleted with a single movement of the thumb, unlike the QWERTY system that requires the hands to move out of the preferred typing position to perform these actions.
The operation of QWERTY keyboards and portable digital devices has been proven to cause repetitive strain injuries. In various embodiments of the present invention, users type with their arms and hands in a neutral “handshake” position and type with a grasping motion rather than a pressing motion, thereby avoiding muscular strain. Plus, unlike the QWERTY keys, the finger input keys do not lose any functionally or any of their ergonomic properties when applied to a portable device. They are designed to fit on pocket-sized models as well as desktop models, and be completely functional, with or without a mouse.